In this study alpha and beta diversity patterns of five leaf litter arthropod groups (ants, predatory ants, oribatid mites, spiders and other arachnids) were described and compared in 39 sampling patches of a transformed landscape in southwestern Colombia, that represented five vegetation types: secondary forest, riparian forest, giant bamboo forest, pasture and sugarcane crop. It was also assessed whether some taxa could be used as diversity surrogates. A total of 6,765 individuals grouped in 290 morphospecies were collected. Species richness in all groups was lower in highly transformed vegetation types (pasture, sugarcane crop) than in native ones (forests). In contrast, there were no clear tendencies of beta diversity among vegetation types. Considering sampling patches, 0.1-42% of the variation in alpha diversity of one taxonomic group could be explained from the alpha diversity of another, and 0.2-33% of the variation of beta diversity of a given taxon was explained by that in other groups. Contrary to recent findings, we concluded that patterns of alpha diversity are more congruent than patterns of beta diversity. This fact could be attributed to a sampling effect that promotes congruence in alpha diversity and to a lack of a clear regional ecological gradient that could promote congruent patterns of beta diversity. We did not find evidence for an ideal diversity surrogate although diversity patterns of predatory ants had the greatest congruencies. These results support earlier multi-taxon evaluations in that conservation planning should not be based on only one leaf litter arthropod group.; Colciencias; Colciencias; Universidad del Valle; Universidad del Valle; Instituto de Investigacion de Recursos Biologicos Alexander von Humboldt (IAvH); Instituto de Investigacion de Recursos Biologicos Alexander von Humboldt (IAvH) [05-01-24843-054CE]

The Iberá Marshlands RAMSAR reserve, in the northeast of Argentina, is one of the largest and most important wetlands of America. In this study we assess orb-weaving spider (Araneae: Orbiculariae) diversity in this reserve, analyzing different facets of local diversity (species richness, diversity, evenness and taxonomic distinctness), and the contribution of species differentiation (beta diversity) among localities and habitat types to the composition of regional diversity. We found 1657 individuals of 59 orb-weaving spider species/morphospecies. Local diversity differs among the three sampled localities. At the habitat level, the different facets of biodiversity followed a clear pattern, where woodlands have higher species richness, diversity, evenness and taxonomic distinctness than savannas. Savanna sites shared a common spider species composition, while woodland communities have high values of complementarity. Thus, beta diversity has a very high contribution to the regional diversity of the orb-weaving spiders in the Iberá Marshlands. We suggest that conservation management in the reserve should be directed towards promoting natural spatial heterogeneity, giving special protection to habitat mosaics in different localities.

Nonseparable household models outline
the links between agricultural production and household
consumption, yet empirical extensions to investigate the
effect of production on dietary diversity and diet
composition are limited. Although a significant literature
has investigated the calorie-income elasticity abstracting
from production, this paper provides an empirical
application of the nonseparable household model linking the
effect of exogenous variation in planting season production
decisions via climate variability on household dietary
diversity. Using exogenous variation in degree days,
rainfall, and agricultural capital stocks as instruments,
the effect of production on household dietary diversity at
harvest is estimated. The empirical specifications estimate
production effects on dietary diversity using both
agricultural revenue and crop production diversity.
Significant effects of agricultural revenue and crop
production diversity on dietary diversity are estimated. The
dietary diversity-production elasticities imply that a 10
percent increase in agricultural revenue or crop diversity
results in a 1.8 percent or 2.4 percent increase in dietary
diversity...

Measures of species diversity are valuable tools for assessing ecosystem health. However, most assessments have addressed individual sites or regional taxon pools, with few comparisons of differences in assemblage composition within or among regions. We examined the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on local richness (α diversity) and species turnover (β diversity) of benthic macroinvertebrates in small streams within and between 2 ecoregions (Northern Piedmont vs Southeastern Plains ecoregions) of the Patuxent River basin (Maryland, USA). Regional species pools did not differ between ecoregions (Piedmont = 166 taxa, Plains = 162 taxa); however, local richness was lower in the Plains (mean = 17.4 taxa/stream) compared to the Piedmont (mean = 22.2 taxa/stream). When streams were categorized into disturbance classes (low, medium, high), local richness did not differ among categories for either region. However, at the entire Patuxent scale, local richness tended to decrease with % impervious cover in a watershed. Variation in species composition, analyzed with nonmetric multidimensional scaling (nMDS), differed significantly between Piedmont and Plains streams, and Plains streams had higher β diversity than Piedmont streams. When partitioned by disturbance category and region...

This study was intended as an initial investigation to shed light on how faculty members are implementing multicultural course transformation in their classrooms to prepare students to live and work in a diverse world. The authors investigated faculty practice as they integrated diversity into the curriculum on a small, regional college campus by conducting a content analysis of faculty annual reports over a 5-year period. The vast majority (90%) of faculty included comments about adding diversity course content, just under half (49%) included descriptions of different teaching strategies, and a minority talked about better understanding their students (18%) or themselves (16%). This article concludes with a discussion of the findings’ implications and outlines recommendations for change.

v. 55, p. 424-435, 2010; 1. Lotic ecosystems can be studied on several spatial scales, and usually show high
heterogeneity at all of them in terms of biological and environmental characteristics.
Understanding and predicting the taxonomic composition of biological communities is
challenging and compounded by the problem of scale. Additive diversity partitioning is a
tool that can show the diversity that occurs at different scales.
2. We evaluated the spatial distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates in a tropical
headwater catchment (S.E. Brazil) during the dry season and compared alpha and beta
diversities at the scales of stream segments, reaches, riffles and microhabitats (substratum
types: gravels, stones and leaf litter). We used family richness as our estimate of diversity.
Sampling was hierarchical, and included three stream segments, two stream reaches per
segment, three riffles per reach, three microhabitats per riffle and three Surber sample
units per microhabitat.
3. Classification analysis of the 53 families found revealed groups formed in terms of
stream segment and microhabitat, but not in terms of stream reaches and riffles. Separate
partition analyses for each microhabitat showed that litter supported lower alpha diversity
(28%) than did stones (36%) or gravel (42%). In all cases...

Population demographics in the United States are rapidly changing, and increasing workplace diversity will become crucial for the survival of many environmental organizations. Although The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global organization and employs many people in different countries, it is also interested in increasing ethnic diversity in its offices in the United States. The purpose of this study is to look at ethnic diversity in TNC offices in the U.S., examine diversity challenges and successes at other environmental organizations, and provide suggestions for increasing the ethnic diversity in TNC. My specific research objectives are to determine (1) why people of color are underrepresented in the environmental field, (2) what makes TNC attractive or unattractive to people of color, (3) what the current relationship is between employees at TNC who represent communities of color and those who do not, (4) how TNC can engage more people of color, and (5) what TNC can do to improve retention of employees representing communities of color.
I reviewed the literature on the demographics of the conservation movement, the history of people of color and the environment, and the challenges and successes other fields have had in trying to increase workplace diversity. I interviewed TNC employees...

Fonte: Chief Diversity Officer in conjunction with
the President’s Commission on Pluralism
and InclusionPublicador: Chief Diversity Officer in conjunction with
the President’s Commission on Pluralism
and Inclusion

Fonte: Chief Diversity Officer in conjunction with the President’s Commission on Pluralism and InclusionPublicador: Chief Diversity Officer in conjunction with the President’s Commission on Pluralism and Inclusion

Additive partitioning of species diversity is a promising approach for analyzing patterns of diversity in mollusk communities, especially their spatial distribution. Our aims were to assess the distribution of mollusk communities in Southern Brazilian streams, and to evaluate the partitioning of community diversity at different spatial scales. The study was carried out in the lower course of the Toropi River, one of the main tributaries of the Ibicuí River Basin, in Southern Brazil. Four microbasins were considered: Sertão da Mata, Ribeirão, Tororaipi and Chiniquá, and sampling were undertaken in autumn, April and May 2009. Six sites were sampled in each stream: two in 1st-order segments, two in 2nd-order segments, and two in 3rd-order segments. All species found and the community as a whole, exhibited a clumped distribution. However, the variance-to-mean ratios for the Drepanotrema kermatoides and Heleobia bertoniana were higher than those of other species, suggesting a higher degree of aggregation. The additive partitioning of the species richness showed that the observed richness at smallest scale (α=within streams) represented 20.7%, and among-streams (β1) represented 10.5% of the total richness. The richness and Shannon diversity index observed at the alpha scale...

Functional diversity is important to ecological processes and íunctioning oí plant communities. The interaction oí functional diversity with environmental variables in Phellodendron amurense (an endangered species) communities in the Dongling Mountain was analyzed. Twenty-five 10 m x 20 m-plots were established in P. amurense communities and species composition, traits and environmental variables were measured and recorded. A new index based on Self-Organized Feature Map theory (SOFM index) for measuring functional diversity was introduced, and other six common indices were used in the analysis of functional diversity. The results showed that Self-Organized Feature Map index was an effective method in functional diversity studies. Functional diversity in P. amurense communities varied greatly; functional diversity increased linearly with elevation; it was negatively correlated with aspect, litter and slope position, and positively correlated with species richness. Functional diversity showed significant, negative effects on the importance values of P. amurense, which suggested that functional diversity should be maintained in a suitable extent for conservation purpose.